Clark and Lana

The relationship between Clark Kent and Lana Lang was one of the most dramatic and tragic relationships in the series. Lana first became an important part of Clark's circle of friends when they began high school. Clark and Lana's relationship spanned much of the course of the show, and has been the source of happiness but more heartbreak for both of them.

Clark and Lana attempted to have a romantic relationship several times, but Clark's secret initially prevented them from having an honest relationship with each other and frequently drove a wedge between them. When Clark finally told Lana the truth about his extraterrestrial origins, she didn't reject him as he had always feared, and they were able to have their first real shot, living together on Clark's family farm. However, due to her traumatic relationship with Lex Luthor, they had to face the fact that Lana was no longer the girl that Clark originally fell in love with. Despite attempts to patch up their relationship, Lana eventually decided to leave town, telling Clark that the world needed him more than she did although she was actually kidnapped by Lex.

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Clark's secret

Clark was afraid of Lana's reaction to his secret, as he felt guilty that Lana's parents had died in the 1989 meteor shower. He faced his worst nightmare when LuthorCorp accidentally released a dangerous toxin into the air, causing Clark to hallucinate that Lana had discovered his secret and wanted vengeance for her parents' death, killing him with a piece of kryptonite. This made Clark more convinced than ever that he could not tell Lana the truth, especially as she had stated several times that she was fearful of people with superhuman powers. To maintain his secret, Clark constantly lied to Lana, driving a wedge between them. Clark was not only doing this for selfish reasons, as he also believed that his secret would put her in danger, especially as Pete Ross claimed that it had ruined his life.

Despite Clark's attempts to maintain his secret, Lana became suspicious, particularly when she had vivid memories of Clark's face as she was pulled into a tornado. This bothered Lana for a long time, as she even pondered what had really happened five years later. Lana directly questioned Clark about this, but he brushed it off. Unconvinced, Lana later tried to reassure Clark that she would not be bothered if he was different.

Lana soon became involved with Clark's secret when she received a magical tattoo that corresponded with markings from the Kawatche Caves. She questioned Clark about the cave paintings, but he lied to her again, claiming that he couldn't read them. Nevertheless, she had an instinctual feeling that the Stones of Power were meant for Clark and gave him the Crystal of Air.

It was only when his powers were gone that they were able to embark on a serious relationship, indicating that Clark's secret was the biggest barrier that they had to overcome in their relationship. When Clark's powers returned, he decided not to tell Lana, despite Lana claiming that she had never felt so close to him as when she absorbed some of his powers when she became a vampire and drank his blood. However, this could've been due to the kryptonite-induced psychosis effects she was suffering.

Clark became nervous that Lana would discover the truth when she admitted that she had been investigating the meteor showers and believed that an alien threat had been residing in Smallville all this time. Nevertheless, Clark eventually confessed his secret to Lana and asked her to marry him. Although she was shocked and reserved at responding to his proposal at first, Lana accepted Clark for who he was and agreed to marry him. Clark then realized that he could trust Lana to keep his secret, but soon realized that it was dangerous for her, as Lex accidentally caused a fatal car accident that killed her. After the day was reset, Clark reconsidered his decision to tell Lana his secret, after which their relationship fell apart as a result.

Lana realized that Chloe Sullivanknew Clark's secret and tried to get to the bottom of it, even rifling through Clark's belongings. She told Clark that she was aware that he was always the one saving her when he rescued her again from Mack. Lana eventually set up a trap for Clark to expose his powers and she witnessed Clark's super speed, heat vision and super strength. Overwhelmed at first, she ultimately realized that it didn't change the way she felt about him. However, she didn't confess to Clark that she knew about his powers until he told her that he was an alien from Krypton.

Season One

"Statistical fact, Clark Kent can't get within five feet of Lana Lang without turning into a total freak show." – Chloe to Pete, Pilot

Initially, Lana dated Whitney Fordman and wore a meteor rock necklace, preventing Clark from coming near her without feeling its effects. Clark's feelings for Lana grew, and a tentative friendship blossomed. However, Lana continued to date Whitney.

Clark dreams of Lana.

Their relationship caused tension between Clark and Whitney. Noticing their friendship, Whitney suspected Clark's feelings for Lana, which led Whitney and his friends to make Clark the traditional freshman "scarecrow." Lana found out about this and felt sorry for Clark.

Despite her relationship with Whitney, Lana grew closer to Clark and even nearly kissed before they were interrupted by her Aunt Nell. Lana often found herself in danger, with Clark regularly coming to her rescue, although she was not always aware of this. Nevertheless, their relationship grew and when Ryan James, a telepathic boy, came to Smallville, he tried to tell Clark what Lana thought of him, but Clark said he didn't want to know because he would rather find out himself.

As Clark began to lose hope of a relationship with Lana, he became closer to Chloe. However, when Whitney decided to become a Marine, Lana and Whitney parted and Whitney relied on Clark to take care of her. While Lana dropped Whitney off for the bus out of Smallville, Clark went to the Spring Formal with Chloe, which Lana seemed a little jealous of. However, when Clark heard that three tornadoes were heading to Smallville, he became worried for Lana's safety. Making his priorities clear, he abandoned Chloe and super-sped to save Lana, as a tornado sucked her truck up.

Season Two

Lana really wanted to know how Clark saved her during the tornado, but Clark evaded her questions. Lana expressed hope that they might become closer someday, which triggered Clark's newly-developed heat vision, causing him to nearly burn down the Talon.

Lana was annoyed again with Clark's secretiveness when he wouldn't share with her his problem with Pete. Also, while under the influence of red kryptonite, Clark showed his true feelings by kissing Lana for the first time, but then he danced with Jessie Brooks and almost kissed her in front of Lana. Lana was both shocked and engaged by their first kiss, but her feelings for Clark quickly changed after witnessing his fickle nature.

They were able to be just friends for a while, but when Whitney died, Lana decided that she didn't care if Clark had secrets, and they were a little more than friends until Clark became infected with red kryptonite again and Lana walked in on Clark and Chloe kissing in the Talon. Clark tried to apologize and applied for a job at the Talon but he ultimately failed his career, as he was too busy saving people, making Lana realize he wasn't reliable. Nevertheless, Lana wanted to remain close to Clark and started boarding Whitney's horse at the Kent Farm so that they could see each other every day.

Their relationship finally came together the night of Clark's birthday. In the morning, Clark tried to get Lana to up

Lana and Clark

their status from friendship but she declined because she was scared that what happened to Whitney would happen to him. During Lex and Helen Bryce's rehearsal dinner, he gave a speech for Lex and Helen, but was in fact aiming it at himself and Lana, which managed to convince Lana to embrace their love for each other. They kissed, but the next day, their relationship fell apart when Martha Kent was injured and lost her baby, which Clark blamed himself for and decided to leave Smallville. He invited Lana, but she insisted that Smallville was her home and his too; with a quick reply of "not anymore," Clark rode out of Smallville and her life.

Season Three

"We're not together anymore, and that was your choice." – Lana to Clark, Magnetic

Lana eventually found Clark in Metropolis. However, as Clark was infected with red kryptonite again, Lana was disgusted and confused by the way he was living, and how he was treating everyone else's feelings with complete disregard. Clark returned to Smallville, but he didn't believe Lana could love the parts of him that he kept secret. Clark's fear that Lana might reject him caused him to put their attempts of a romantic relationship behind him. Lana, in turn, tried to reassure him that she would care for him no matter what, asking Clark for a second chance. She confided in Martha that she hoped Clark would open up to her one day.

Lana persisted with her friendship to Clark and helped him solve the mystery of her great-aunt Louise McCallum's death. Clark then realized that his love for Lana was somewhat parallel to his biological father Jor-El's love for Lana's great-aunt. (Like his father, Clark loved a female member of Lana's family and ended up not being with them.)

When Lana metSeth Nelson, she decided that she couldn't wait around for Clark and quickly embarked on a relationship with Seth, which Clark quickly became jealous of. When Seth proved himself to be a psychotic meteor freak, Lana apologized to Clark but when he got Lana involved with Lex's mental breakdown and she nearly got killed, she decided that knowing Clark was too dangerous and decided to call it quits. When Clark was blinded and became concerned for his father's health, he and Lana reached out to each other again, resulting in a kiss. Lana was upset and disappointed that she kept getting left in limbo about her future with Clark. Although she wanted to believe that Clark could change, she admitted that she was losing faith and decided to put an end to any further potential romance.

Nevertheless, Clark invited Lana for dinner at his house to tell her about his powers in the hope that she would reconsider having a relationship with him. When he realized how difficult it was for Pete to deal with his secret, he changed his mind and didn't tell Lana, further frustrating her. He planned to take her to the airport, but when another crisis made him late, Lex met her at the airport instead. Seeing Lex hug her goodbye, a jealous Clark left without saying goodbye, although Lana briefly spotted him through the crowd.

Season Four

During her time away from Smallville, Lana started a relationship with Jason Teague, who then became the assistant football coach at Smallville High School. When Lana returned, Clark was happy to see her again but when he discovered Lana's relationship with Jason, Clark was shocked and, after that, they had a very strained relationship and avoided each other.

When Lana and Jason split up, Clark and Lana became closer again. They shared a dance at the prom and, when Clark lost his memory, Lana was keen to restart their relationship when Clark promised this time it would be different. However, when his memory returned, Lana was left disappointed again. Nevertheless, they assumed the role of parents when they found a baby in a field and took care of it together. Before the second meteor shower they declared their love for each other and said goodbye, preparing for the worst.

Season Five

"I don't even know if you can hear me but I need you to know that from the first moment that I saw you, I knew that no one could make me happier than you. But I also knew that you'd never change. You'd always be running around trying to save the day. All those times I pulled away... is because I knew this day would come." –Lana to a dying Clark, Hidden

Clark visited Lana in the hospital after the meteor shower, and was keen to discuss their declaration of love the last time they saw each other. Suspecting that Lana didn't mean what she said, Clark shrugged off Lana's comments, but she insisted she meant every word. This led them to

Clark and Lana make love.

embark on their first adult relationship with each other. When Clark lost his powers, he felt he could embrace the relationship and they lost their virginity to each other.

Clark proposes to Lana.

When Clark died and came back with his powers restored, things weren't the same between him and Lana. He was afraid he would hurt her, and they grew apart. Clark tried to make up for this by telling Lana about his powers, and then proposed to her which she accepted although at first she began to have second thoughts on her feelings for Clark because of his secret she just found out but then she changed her mind, thanks to the advice she got from Lois Lane

Lana accepts Clark's marriage proposal.

. However, Lex, aware that she knew Clark's secret and furious about her engagement to Clark, chased and caused Lana a car accident,killing her. Desperate to save Lana and realizing that it was his secret that caused her death, Clark turned back time and decided not to tell her. This frustrated Lana and she decided they needed to take a break.

When Clark's adoptive father Jonathan Kent died, Lana stayed with Clark out of pity and they got back together. Soon after that, Clark was hypnotized by Simone and broke up with Lana. After the spell was broken, Lana tried to mend things with Clark, but he decided he didn't like lying to her and broke up with her. He lied to her by telling her he didn't love her anymore. This seemed to put an end to their relationship for good.

Season Six

"Lana, we should be together; I want this more than I have ever wanted anything, and I know you do, too." – Clark to Lana, Promise

Lana quickly started a new relationship with Lex, and became pregnant with Lex's child. Despite her anger with Clark, when Lex proposed to her, Lana had reservations since she still had feelings for Clark. She gave Clark a final chance to make amends, but when he found out she was pregnant, Clark decided to let her go, much to her disappointment.

When Clark was taken over by a phantom and trapped in his mind, the phantom tried to use Lana to take over Clark's body, making him realize his feelings for her. While under the influence of red kryptonite, Clark kidnapped Lana and told Lana not to marry Lex but marry him instead.

A red kryptonite-infected Clark kisses Lana.

Frustrated that he chose now to admit his feelings, Lana rejected Clark's advances. Nevertheless, her intrigue over Clark's secret kept her close to Clark and, when she received death threats, she hid from the stalker in Clark's bedroom and took the opportunity to look for any clues to the truth about Clark. When Clark saved her life, he let her know that he had been watching over her for the same reason she had been watching him.

Lana believed that Clark might be meteor-infected and proved her allegiance to Clark when she protected what she thought was Clark's secret from Tobias Rice, a meteor freak who could identify other meteor freaks. Lana finally found out Clark's secret on her wedding day by witnessing Clark's powers from a hiding place. At the same time, Clark realized that he had to tell Lana about his feelings for her. After kissing Clark and telling him she'll meet him at the barn at 5:00pm, Lana is confronted by Lionel Luthor, who found out Lana's intention to stand Lex up and promised he would kill Clark if she didn't marry Lex. Lana's love for Clark made her protect him by keeping her promise to Lex.

Clark was devastated that she had gone through with the wedding. A week later, Lana collapsed and suffered a miscarriage. Subsequent tests showed that she had never been pregnant, and the doctor accused Lana of

Clark confronts a distraught Lana about her marriage to Lex.

taking synthetic hormones to simulate a pregnancy to get Lex to marry her. However, it became clear that she was not happy in her marriage after Lana learned that Lex had faked her pregnancy. Angry over what had been done to her, she was going to leave Lex trapped in a caved in tunnel until she learned that Clark was with him. Clark and Lana soon found their way back to one another, when Lana met Clark at his barn and told him she was leaving Lex, and Smallville, to escape. Clark told her his secret in an attempt to get her to stay, but she only kissed him and admitted she already knew. Soon after, Lana was apparently killed when her car exploded. After learning of Lana's death, Clark became very emotional and wanted revenge for the woman he loved.

Season Seven

"I need you. But the world needs you more and as long I'm in your life, I'm holding you back. Please, don't come after me. I love you, Clark Kent. More than you will ever know." – Lana to Clark, Arctic

Clark and Lana start dating again.

Clark continued to mourn for Lana while trying to defeat Bizarro. Later, Lana was revealed to be alive, as she confessed that she had tried to set Lex up for her murder. On her return to Smallville, she immediately visited Clark's loft, much to his surprise and delight. Clark and Lana both decided to forget their past mistakes and try to pursue their relationship again.

When Ben Meyers attempted to kill Lana so Clark could fulfill his destiny, Lana began to think that she may be holding Clark back but Clark insisted that she was all he ever wanted. Sometime later, Lana opened the Isis Foundation and asked Chloe to keep the foundation a secret from Clark. While Lana's secrets piled up, Clark told Lana one of his biggest secrets: He was hiding Kara's blue crystal.

Lana absorbs Clark's powers.

During a romantic afternoon with Clark, Lana received Clark's powers when lightning struck while she was near a piece of kryptonite. She became corrupted by her newfound powers, and used them in a violent and

Clark and Lana's super-powered battle.

vengeful way. At the same time, Lionel told Clark that Lana was the one who had him held captive in a cabin, and Clark and Chloe discovered Lana's secret surveillance room in the Isis Foundation. After she was de-powered, Lana questioned if Clark would love her no matter what, but Clark didn't reply. It gradually became clear to Clark that Lana was no longer the girl he fell in love with. Lara-El, Clark's Kryptonian birth mother, could also see the darkness inside her and told Lana to fight it.

Lana began to wonder if she deserved Clark and if she was at the point where she couldn't rebound from her darkness. Nevertheless, when "Clark" supposedly returned from the Fortress of Solitude, their relationship seemed to be back on track. Lana noted that Clark had never been so open before. Unaware that she was actually dating Bizarro, Lana enjoyed living with the new Clark. She ignored Chloe's warnings and even planned to leave Smallville with him. When the real Clark eventually came home, Lana was in denial at first. Clearly happier with Bizarro, she and Clark grew very distant. Clark was outraged that Lana didn't know him as well as he thought. He eventually confronted her over their relationship issues, and Lana admitted it was easier living with Bizarro. Clark still felt like Lana wanted him to be somebody else, while Lana felt like it was impossible to live up to Clark's standards. Later, Lana packed her bags and was preparing to stay with Chloe, but Clark and Lana both decided that they didn't want their relationship to end.

Lana was later attacked by Brainiac and left in a catatonic state. Clark was heartbroken when he went to see her, receiving a devastating message from Brainiac, saying that he was "too late." After Clark defeated Brainiac, Lana awoke from her coma. She left a message for Clark on a DVD, telling him that they were not meant to be together, as the world needed him more, but she made sure that Clark knew that she loved him, more than he would ever know.

was visibly uncomfortable at her arrival and questioned her as to why she left him, to which she said it was the hardest decision she ever had to make, but it felt right. When Doomsday interrupted the wedding reception and kidnapped Chloe, Lana was injured and Clark weakened by kryptonite. She put the kryptonite away, and at Metropolis General Hospital, she and Clark shared a tender moment, much to Lois' disappointment. It wasn't long before Clark and Lana were growing closer again and as they discussed rebuilding their relationship, they shared a kiss.

Clark and Lana share a passionate kiss.

Aware of Lex's dangerous plan to use the Prometheus suit to match Clark's powers, Lana convinced Dr. Groll to

A super-powered Lana sees Clark.

put the suit on her instead in a desperate atttempt to become Clark's equal. After the suit was successfully grafted onto her body, it gave her superhuman strength and speed. Clark witnessed her break out of her containment chamber, grab the bullet Tess had fired at Dr. Groll, and they gazed at each other before she sped off. Later, Lana told Clark to meet her on the roof of the Daily Planet. They discussed her new abilities, and she said that, together, they could make the world a better place. Although Clark was in doubt, he and Lana then passionately kissed

Clark and Lana's kiss before she defuses the kryptonite bomb.

as the sun rose over the horizon.

Clark and Lana share their final kiss.

However they were tragically torn apart as the suit absorbed a huge amount of kryptonite when Lana had to dismantle a bomb that Lex planted on the roof of the Daily Planet; this prevented Lana from being close to Clark without hurting him. Clark asks Lana to stay but she said that it would be too painful for her to be in his life and not being able to touch him. They ultimately said their final goodbye, and shared a final kiss before Lana left Smallville - and Clark's life - forever.

Season Nine

Clark went through his wallet and came across a picture of Lana and decided to put it in the photo album. Thus finally letting Lana go and begins pursuing a romantic relationship with Lois.

Heat – The second time his heat vision was activated, Clark was talking to Lana and almost burned down the Talon. Clark tries to learn how to control his heat vision,he thinks of Lana and sex to activate it.

Red – While under the influence of red kryptonite, Clark showed his true feelings by kissing Lana for the first time; she was both shocked and engaged by their moment together.

Calling – Lana gives Clark a birthday kiss. Also in the same episode, they kiss again, affirming their relationship.

Mortal – Clark doesn't tell Lana about his fight with Lex, but he talks to her about the uncertainty he feels, indirectly saying that he thought his life would be different or easier without his powers. Lana takes care of his wounds, and they make love for the first time.

Hidden – Clark and Lana are enjoying the newest aspect of their relationship. They mistakenly oversleep and wake up in Clark's bed. Clark tries to sneak Lana out of the house before his parents wake. Much to their chagrin, Jonathan and Martha are both already awake.

Wrath – Lana doesn't have to try very hard to convince Clark that they could probably make super-powered love now that they are on "an equal playing field." This actually causes slight seismic activity across Smallville due to the sheer forces involved in making "super-powered" love.